We have to be honest. The original tone of this post was dreamt up as portraying the industry laden Northwest Indiana & Chicago Lake Michigan shoreline – urban fishing at its best with hidden diamonds throughout. A shoreline whose legacy includes factories, blue collar working class men, smokestacks and murders. Yes, to an extent, for better or worse, this is true. But amongst the Sandburg and Sinclair folklore here these sparkling diamonds outshine this simple portrayal and if there’s a gem collector who’ll make you rich in this business his name is Captain Ralph Steiger (www.captainsteiger.com).

Now, although we at The Local Fisherman have experienced not just the lullaby of loons while we’ve fished in the sunsets of Ontario, but also the not so surprising sound of pre-dawn hour distant gunfire while fishing near East St. Louis (a tale for another day), this is not exactly a fitting backdrop for Capt. Ralph. His is more of a wild, borderline circus, show of unpredictable weather and species. For example “Hey I know you want to go out for smallmouth but what do you think about trying for kings (salmon) in the morning for two hours?” Um…yes?

Now, although we at The Local Fisherman have experienced not just the lullaby of loons while we’ve fished in the sunsets of Ontario, but also the not so surprising sound of pre-dawn hour distant gunfire while fishing near East St. Louis (a tale for another day), this is not exactly a fitting backdrop for Capt. Ralph. His is more of a wild, borderline circus, show of unpredictable weather and species. For example “Hey I know you want to go out for smallmouth but what do you think about trying for kings (salmon) in the morning for two hours?” Um…yes?

Enough of the Rod Serling code talk. The smallmouth here are big and plentiful – 20-30 fish days are common – and like all their other brothers and sisters the fish are angry…very angry. The invasive gobies here have worked to their advantage. Big, bottom dwelling, juicy pizzas that scurry along the bottom and have provided an unlikely diet to stimulate nuclear sized fish like something you’d expect to see in a 50’s monster movie.

Coho, browns, lake trout, steelhead, smallmouth, the occasional catfish, perch…the gang’s all here depending on the time of year and Ralph can put you on them. The water is clear – at least 20 foot visibility is common – the locations of the finicky fish often precise and the wind…well the wind sucks at times. But it’s the patience, that we as fishermen uniquely understand and the pursuit & unwritten guarantee that we here at The Local Fisherman are concerned with. The trial and error, the practice, the willing sacrifice we make in our pursuit to discover the art involved in a particular environment to produce trophy fish is what makes us who we are.

Coho, browns, lake trout, steelhead, smallmouth, the occasional catfish, perch…the gang’s all here depending on the time of year and Ralph can put you on them. The water is clear – at least 20 foot visibility is common – the locations of the finicky fish often precise and the wind…well the wind sucks at times. But it’s the patience, that we as fishermen uniquely understand and the pursuit & unwritten guarantee that we here at The Local Fisherman are concerned with. The trial and error, the practice, the willing sacrifice we make in our pursuit to discover the art involved in a particular environment to produce trophy fish is what makes us who we are.